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Overview

In the tradition of the instant bestsellers The Intellectual Devotional and The Intellectual Devotional: American History comes the third installment in this indispensable series. In The Intellectual Devotional: Modern Culture, authors David S. Kidder and Noah D. Oppenheim explore the fascinating world of contemporary culture to offer 365 daily readings that provide the essential references needed to navigate the world today. Quench your intellectual thirst with an overview of the literature, music, film, personalities, trends, sports, and pop references that have defined the way we live. From the Slinky to Star Wars; Beatlemania to Babe Ruth; flappers to fascism—refreshing your memory and dazzling your friends has never been easier, or more fun. Whether you're a trivia genius, pop-culture buff, or avid reader, you'll be riveted by this comprehensive journey through contemporary culture.

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About the Author

DAVID S. KIDDER is an entrepreneur with a wide range of technology and marketing expertise. Stories about Kidder and his companies have appeared in numerous publications, from the Wall Street Journal to the New York Times. He lives in Westchester, New York. NOAH D. OPPENHEIM, a senior producer of NBC's Today show, has extensive experience in television and print journalism. His writing has appeared in Esquire and the Wall Street Journal. He lives in New York City.

3. In India, one of Mohandas Gandhi's sobriquets was "Mahatma," meaning what?

a) Enlightened One
b) Great Soul
c) Harbinger of Peace
d) Father of India

Answer: b) Great Soul

Week Two: Literature
1. Which Irish literary figure won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923 and advocated a return to Ireland's earliest roots - its myths and folktales - as an escape from the Catholic-Protestant conflict?

2. Which American poet wrote an original poem for President John F. Kennedy's presidential inauguration but decided at the last minute to read an older poem due to the glare from the snow and his failing eyesight?

a) Robert Bly
b) Langston Hughes
c) Robert Frost
d) T. S. Eliot

Answer: c) Robert Frost

3. Aldous Huxley took the title Brave New World - which at the time was considered to be a pioneering combination of science fiction and dystopian literature - from a line out of which Shakespearean play?

a) Macbeth
b) The Tempest
c) King Lear
d) Hamlet

Answer: b) The Tempest

Week Three: Music
1. Which rapper was the first to have an album rise to number one while in prison?

a) Notorious BIG and his album "Life After Death"
b) The Game and "The Documentary"
c) Snoop Doggy Dog and "Doggystyle"
d) Tupac Shakur and "Me Against the World"

Answer: d) Tupac Shakur and "Me Against the World"

2. Which Michael Jackson hit is not on the album "Thriller," the best-selling album (in terms of number of copies, with an estimated 108 million) of all time?

Week Four: Film
1. Which are true concerning D. W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation?

a) It was considered the first American epic and utilized an emerging narrative style and technical innovations such as close-up shots and intertitles to turn movie-making into an art form.
b) The movie was based on the novel The Clansmen - also the original title for the movie - and focused on the Civil War and Reconstruction, glorifying the Klu Klux Klan.
c) Main characters in the movie were white actors who painted their faces black.
d) All of the above.

Answer: d) All of the above.

2. Of the following Hollywood movies, which one was nominated for fourteen Oscars (tied for the most), won eleven (tied for the most), and is the first movie to gross over $1 billion worldwide (unadjusted world gross)?

a) The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
b) Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
c) Titanic
d) Ben Hur

Answer: c) Titanic

3. "I want to be alone": Which famous 1930s film actress made this line famous in the movie Grand Hotel?

a) Greta Garbo
b) Ginger Rogers
c) Myrna Loy
d) Mae West

Answer: a) Greta Garbo

Week Five: Ideas and Trends
1. According to Karl Marx, one of the writers of the Communist Manifesto, what was considered the "opium of the people"?

2. Who coined the term Zionism in an 1890 issue of his own journal, Self-Emancipation, and helped form the World Zionist Organization, which later helped create the modern world's first Jewish state on May 14, 1948?